Photography BLOG

The Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens
is a mid-grade long telephoto zoom lens.

Introduced in 1990, the Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens is built
reasonably well. The finish does not appear modern, but the build quality is
decent. A metal lens mount shows that the 100-300 is not a bottom-of-the-line
lens.

AF is very fast and quiet. The Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens utilizes
Ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) focusing, and FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing is an
included feature. The MF (Manual Focus) ring is very small and wobbly – It is
not as easy to use as it could be.

The zoom ring, on the other hand, is too easy to use. The Canon EF 100-300mm
f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens will extend all by itself when hanging downward.

At 1.2 lbs, the Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens is a mid-weight lens. It
feels substantial in your hand.

From left to right in the picture above are the Canon EF 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II
Lens, Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM Lens, Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
Lens, Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens and Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM
Lens. The same lenses are pictured below extended to their maximum length.

Featuring an 8-blade aperture (very good), the Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Lens is not a fast lens. Starting at f/4.5, quickly moving to f/5.0 around 115mm
and on to f/5.6 near 180mm. Handholding this lens at 300mm is going to require
lots of light or high ISO settings to get shutter speeds high/short enough to
prevent camera motion blur.

Combining a long minimum focusing distance (4.9′) with a high focal length, the
Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens turns in a mediocre .2x magnification
ability.

I found 100-300′s sharpness to be decent (not excellent) when stopped down at
least one stop from maximum at most focal lengths.

Vignetting is well controlled with 300mm f/5.6 showing the worst performance in
this regard. CA (Chromatic Aberration) is also well controlled but apparent at
the long end. Slight pincushion distortion is visible at most focal lengths even
on a 1.3x FOVCF body.

The Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Lens provides reasonable optical quality in
a wide focal length range with fast Ring USM autofocus for a reasonable price.